This story will be updated.

Continue reading

UPDATE Jan. 7, 2:30 p.m.: Investigators have released an image of the note that was sent to Gov. Martin O'Malley and Transportation Secretary Beverley K. Swaim-Staley along with incendiary devices on Thursday:

"Report suspicious activity! Total BULLSHIT! You have created a self fulfilling prophecy. -x-"

The notes created a "puff of smoke," a sulfurous smell and a flash, but no one was injured. 

U.S. Postal inspectors are working on tracing the packages through the mail system.

The FBI lab in Quantico is processing the packages for evidence.

**************

Hundreds of people were evacuated from two state buildings in Anne Arundel County this afternoon after two incendiary devices ignited in two separate state office buildings.

No serious injuries were reported. But a state employee who opened one of the devices was treated for singed fingers after flames erupted from the package, said Maryland State police spokesman Greg Shipley.

One of the letters was addressed to Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley. At least one of the envelopes had anti-government writing on it, law enforcement sources told ABC7's Brad Bell.

The Baltimore Sun reported that a source told the paper that the package was accompanied by a note that read: "Report suspicious activity. Total [expletive]. You have created your own self-fulfilling prophecy."

Baltimore City police said a suspicious package at the Baltimore City Circuit Court turned out to be printer toner cartridges. Another suspicious package at the building housing the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in Baltimore remained under investigation Thursday evening.

The first package ignited at about 12:35 p.m. at the Jeffrey Building, near the statehouse in Annapolis. The Jeffrey Building houses the governor’s offices of Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs.

Authorities said a mailroom employee at the Jeffrey Building opened a book-sized package that flared up. Smoke and a sulfur odor came out of the package and the flames singed the employees fingers.

The Associated Press reported that a source said the package had a zipper feature and when ripped open, a "flame popped out."

The Baltimore Sun reported that a source told the paper that the package came with a note that read: "Report suspicious activity. Total [expletive]. You have created your own self-fulfilling prophecy."

A little while later, a state employee opened a package on the fourth floor of the Maryland Department of Transportation's headquarters. There was "a sulfur smell and a puff of smoke" but "no fire, no explosion, {and} no white powder," said William Barnard, the Maryland State Fire Marshal.

The person who opened the package at the Maryland Department of Transportation went to the hospital for a checkup, along with three other people who were nearby. Four other people were evaluated but declined to be transported. Barnard said there were no actual injuries.

The Hanover package was not opened in the mailroom. Barnard could not say to whom it was addressed.

An elected official told WJZ-TV in Baltimore that a return address on one of the packages was a Washington parking lot.

Shipley says mail rooms at state offices across Maryland are being quarantined until investigators determine if any other packages have been sent.

Rick Abbruzzese, an O’Malley spokesman, said cabinet secretaries have been instructed to shut down mailrooms and not deliver any mail until the investigation concludes. NBC4's Tom Sherwood also reported on Twitter via NBC Washington that an unnamed D.C. councilmember told him "a D.C.-wide alert [was] sent out to shut down all D.C. government mail operations b/c of Md. incidents."

Security at the Maryland state buildings is believed to be minimal, according to a state government official: "There would be a guard at each building [not much more], but this was mail." A security alert has been issued to all state offices.

The Capital in Annapolis originally reported that one person was injured in a mailroom at a building on State Circle, believed to be the Jeffrey Building. ABC7 originally reported that at least six people were injured.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.